NASCAR number question

[bulldogbarks55]

NASCAR has a rule prohibiting the retirement of a car number. The subject first came up when Richard Petty retired and a lot of people advocated retiring number 43. But in its best "we don't retire car numbers" stance, NASCAR refused. No matter that King Richard leads the all-time standings with 200 victories. NASCAR stood fast.

Which brings up the question- "When will the number 3 return?" Everyone is aware of the sentiment associated with the untimely death of Dale Earnhardt, Sr. But c'mon NASCAR, is their a special rule for Childress Racing?

I should have mentioned that the car owner actually owns the number, so you can understand why Childress doesn't want it on the track. Dale Jr. drives for DEI, Inc., so if he ever wants the number he and Theresa will have to buy it from Childress.

The Pettys have always owned the number 43, so it's theirs to do what they want with it. The number 44 was Kyle's number. He switched to 45 in memory of his son Adam.

I wouldn't care if the 3 was retired, given the circumstances of Dale Sr.'s death. Look at it like when Lou Gehrig died. Who could ever wear 4 for the Yankees again?

[CJR]

I think it's more a matter of no one daring to take #3. When Richard Petty retired, his car switched to #44 but a year later someone wanted to take #43 so he switched back so that at least he'd own the car with his number since he wasn't driving it anymore. No one's tried to take #3 yet. We'll see what happens if someone ever tries it, will Childress move to block it by renumbering one of his other cars? Will Dale Jr. make the switch (apparently he was offered the number before but didn't take it)? You never know.

[DGivens87]

I think the only way you'll see the # 3 back on the track is if Junior takes it (like he did in 2002 when he raced the #3 in the Busch Series for 2 races). But like YzerFan said, I can't picture anyone else who'd dare take it other than an Earnhardt. Imagine what the fan reaction would be to some newcomer who had the audacity to say "I'm taking the 3." Who is he to ask for such a number with the kind of history Earnhardt had with it? Especially with his untimely death in 2001 while driving the 3, I think many would find it extremely inappropriate unless it were another Earnhardt behind the wheel of it.

With that being said, I don't think NASCAR has to to retire it.

[BaltimoreFan]

The #3 car will probably not come back until all of the Earnhardt Sr. fans are gone.

[officeglenn]

Yeah, I don't think any of the current generation of NASCAR racers (save for Earnhardt Jr.), or at least anyone who remembers Earnhardt Sr.'s death, would dare try to take #3, at the risk of getting lynch mobbed. It's the same thing as would happen if a hockey player tried to wear #99 again; technically, only the teams Gretzky has played for can retire it, but I don't think any player on any team will try to wear it for a long, long time.

I thought the same would have happened with #23 in the NBA after Jordan retired, but not so. I can see Lebron wearing it, sort of marking his status as the "Air Apparent", but when guys like J.R. Smith and Devin Brown are wearing it, that seems a little odd to me.

[MC Buffalo]

Richard Childress still owns the rights to having a number 3 car. So as long as he doesn't mind paying for a number and not utilizing it you won't see a 3 on the track.

Sooner or Later Childress will have to start selling off all or part of his race team and that's when the question of whether whomever purchases it will put the 3 back in service.

[OHLArenaGuide]

It's the same thing as would happen if a hockey player tried to wear #99 again; technically, only the teams Gretzky has played for can retire it, but I don't think any player on any team will try to wear it for a long, long time.

Technically, the NHL has retired #99 league-wide.

[Plaid Paint]

Richard Childress still owns the rights to having a number 3 car. So as long as he doesn't mind paying for a number and not utilizing it you won't see a 3 on the track.

Sooner or Later Childress will have to start selling off all or part of his race team and that's when the question of whether whomever purchases it will put the 3 back in service.

No he won't.

Childress has almost but not quite more money then Og, and since the fee for numbers is so small, he could effectively pay NASCAR enough money to keep #3 in perpetuity until the end of time, and still have more then enough money left over to buy 100 hookers a day every day for the next 1000 years.

[DGivens87]

Childress has almost but not quite more money then Og, and since the fee for numbers is so small, he could effectively pay NASCAR enough money to keep #3 in perpetuity until the end of time, and still have more then enough money left over to buy 100 hookers a day every day for the next 1000 years.

Very well said

[TFoA]

When will the #3 come back?

Hopefully never. It's as good as retired.